Cut/Copy releases 3D-printed video and invites fans to 3D print their own 'We Are Explorers'

Feb.21, 2014

Australian electronic band Cut Copy has unveiled a brand new music video for their Free Your Mind single "We Are Explorers". Directed by avant-garde creators Masa Kawamura, Aramique & Qanta Shimizu, the video features 3D-printed miniature characters exploring the streets of Los Angeles at night, collecting various disposable artifacts (cigarette butts, CDs, etc) as they go.

"We wanted it to be tactile, to feel like a real adventure and felt we could accomplish this by creating a tangible character that we would shoot outside on on location in every place," explain Kawamura & Aramique.

The characters were designed in Cinema4D by Mau Morgo. Technical director Qanta Shimizu then determined that the project would need "roughly 200 figurines" which were used in in groups of 8 for each type of movement. For example the running sequence used 8 figurines and is designed as a loop to create the effect.

The figurines were then printed with a yellow, UV-reactive filament on a Stratasys Dimension 3D printer at NextFab Studio and shot at night under black light flashlights.

In order to give fans the opportunity to create their own "We Are Explorers" adventure story, Cut Copy has provided the 3D files to the video via BitTorrent.

"Our goal with BitTorrent is to hand everything over to the public," Kawamura & Aramique explained. "Our storyboards, stop-motion technical plans, 3D files for every figurine, and see what they do with it. Even if people just print the 8 figurines that make up the running sequence there's so much they can do and so many places the story can go."

"We hope people enjoy the film, the music, the figurines and the process that went into making it. Hopefully people print the figurines, play with them, shoot them, make new storylines we didn't think of, take them to places we couldn't, and share whatever they do with everyone so we can enjoy the process together."